Fans want to see ‘The Face of Boxing’ Canelo Alvarez return to the ring in 2020, even if it’s against a mediocre opponent.
They want to see their hero pick in the ring on DAZN showing off his skills against whoever.Alvarez, 30, hasn’t fought since his knockout win over Sergey Kovalev last November, a fight in which the Mexican captured the WBO 175-lb title.
Canelo (53-1-2, 36 KOs) is bogged down with litigation right now over his lawsuit he initiated last week against Oscar De La Hoya, Golden Boy Promotions, and DAZN.Canelo may find it more challenging for him to fight now, given that DAZN is said to want him to fight a premier opponent. Unfortunately, boxing doesn’t have many premier fighters, especially at 168. No one fits the label of being called a “premier” fighter.DAZN Wants Canelo To Be In Marquee Fights
“There’s a dispute, and I guess the Canelo and Golden Boy situation has been unsteady for a while now, and this is the culmination of all that,” said Hearn to IFL TV. ”“I don’t know the ins and outs, and it’s quite sad to see when it ends up in court. I’ve never personally been in a courtroom situation with a fighter, and I don’t expect to ever be there, to be honest with you.“But they have to resolve it, and it’s important for Canelo’s career. I want to see him back in the ring. I want to see him fight one of our guys. So hopefully, they can find a resolution.“DAZN probably has an opinion that they want him to be in marquee fights. I think they wanted him to fight Gennadiy Golovkin for a long time now, and they’ll have their strategy behind them as well.
“How does this affect them? They want Canelo Alvarez to fight. He’s a big part of the schedule on DAZN, but they’ve got their reason for standing firm, and it’s not financial. It’s more of a point of principle of what they believe in. So again, that’s for them to all figure out.
“I’m happy I’ve over on this side and say, ‘you crack on in court. I’m just going to go and do my thing,” said Hearn.
Fat chance Canelo starts fighting marquee guys because he hadn’t done that since 2018 when he fought Gennady Golovkin for a second time. It doesn’t appear that Alvarez wants any part of the third fight with GGG, and he’s probably got a good reason for it.
There’s a lot of bad blood between Canelo and Golovkin from words that were said before the second match, and I overthink has been said.
Further, Golovkin is a tough cookie, and he gave Canelo all he could handle in their two fights. Why would Canelo want to fight someone as tough a GGG when he can take more comfortable fighters like Billy Joe Saunders and Avni Yildirim?
DAZN Would Have Accepted Khabib And Masvidal
“While the schedule is October, November to be announced in the next seven days, we got some strong fights,” said Hearn. “We all do want collectively for Canelo Alvarez to fight because he’s a big part of the DAZN schedule.
“I would think if those guys [Khabib Nurmagomedov and Jorge Masvidal] were in the mix to fight Canelo. I know there were talks of Canelo fighting an MMA guy.
“It wasn’t one day these guys were plucked from the sky, but those conversations were ongoing for a while. And yes, DAZN would have absolutely accepted those guys.
“They’re huge subscriber-driven events. That’s a big fight. Without going too deep into it, I think this probably stems from the fact that Canelo didn’t fight Gennadiy Golovkin, and that was what people anticipated,” said Hearn in explaining what contributed to Canelo’s problems.
Dana White of UFC isn’t about to let his fighters Khabib and Masvidal, take on Canelo in a boxing event. Why would he do that? We saw what happened when White’s former #1 star in the UFC, Conor McGregor, fought Floyd Mayweather Jr in a boxing event in 2017.
McGregor lost badly but made a lot of money, and it arguably derailed his career. Without the need for cash, McGregor seemed to lose his ambition. If Dana let Masvidal or Khabib fight Canelo, they would likely be embarrassed by him, which wouldn’t be suitable for their popularity.
Additionally, all the money they would make fro fighting Canelo might cause the same reaction that we saw with McGregor with the loss of ambition. It takes an outstanding fighter to keep competing once they’ve made millions.
In a lot of cases, when fighters hit it big in making a lot of money, their careers begin a steep descent.
Hearn Hoping Alvarez Picks Saunders Or Callum
“Right now, I hope he fights Billy Joe Saunders or Callum Smith [get picked to face Canelo],” said Hearn. One thing I believe is everybody wants him to fight this year.